At the meeting of the Shadow ECB Council on 25 July, 2013, a large majority of 12 members again recommended a cut of the ECB’s main refinancing rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.25 per cent, after the ECB had last lowered it to 0.5 per cent in May.

Most members also recommended that the ECB clarifies what it means by forward guidance, with many of the view that this should be tied to an economic indicator.

Members on average expect a decline of GDP of 0.6 per cent, unchanged from last month and in line with the latest ECB projections. For 2014 they expect on average an unchanged growth rate of 0.8 per cent, which is below ECB projections. Inflations forecasts remained unchanged at 1.5 per cent, this year and next, which is slightly higher than ECB projections.

In light of the record level of unemployment in many countries and in the euro area as a whole, the decline of inflation, which is projected not to reverse any time soon, a credit crunch and an expected second year of shrinking euro area GDP, a very large majority (12 out of 15) favoured again a cut of the Main Refinancing Rate, which the ECB last lowered to 0.5 per cent in May 2013.

Two members said rates should be left unchanged, another member argued in favour of a rate hike by 0.25 percentage points on the grounds that a prolonged period of abnormally low rates was distorting economic incentives.

Forward guidance welcomed – But many members want more specifics

Many participants welcomed the newly introduced forward guidance of the ECB Council as a step in the right direction which would give markets a better understanding of the interest rate path in the Euro Zone. A number of members thought that the ECB should provide markets with more specifics about how the forward guidance is meant. Many expressed the opinion that the forward guidance should be tied to an economic indicator. The idea of following the concept of the Federal Reserve Bank of the US, which ties the guidance to the unemployment rate, was dismissed by most participants on the grounds that the labour market in the Euro Zone is not homogenous enough.

A number of members argued an indicator derived from either the money supply or the credit supply could be used to specify the forward guidance. A small number favoured a new LTRO at a fixed rate to signal to the markets what extended period should mean. Members expressed the expectation that “extended period” in the context of the monetary policy of the ECB means at least 12 to 24 months.